camera acting and directing actors
with matheus parizi
A 2-day intensive course in which actors and directors learn skills while using scenes from contemporary scripts.
This intensive hands-on course was devised to make actors and directors feel confident and ready, training them in the precise naturalist style that Matheus has used to successfully build his carrier in film and series, while relying on time-tested principles from Stanislavski’s system (plus elements from Adler, Meisner and Strasberg). Participants experienced in camera work will hone advanced skills, and stage actors and directors adapting to camera work will have a formative learning experience.
Confidence is most important in order to get the desired role/project independently of how good the actor/diretor is, and here, instructed by Matheus, participants train competences that build confidence, working with scripted scenes from the get-go, filming exercises, doing re-takes, acclimatising to the dynamic of a set. The clear principles and practices taught here willl always get you the needed results.
Actors will find it easier to hit notes that scenes ask and to trust what they’ve done, independently of how they feel on the day (or how little feedback they got from their directors).
Directors will train how to communicate with actors with precision, and how to choose the right tools to make needed scene adjustments, even when under pressure and having to work fast.
dates: Nov 18-19, 2023
hours: 11:00-18:00
level: advanced
language: English
venue: this site specific edition takes place in an art studio in Wedding, Berlin.
cost: € 200
Limited to 6 participants.
This course is for actors, directors or scriptwriters/playwrights on a professional track. On-camera experience is not required, but attendance is limited to participants with previous training or experience.
Please send your resume, IMDB or reel with your booking request.
Matheus Parizi is a Brazilian scriptwriter and director working in film, streaming and television. His films have been screened, discussed and awarded at festivals and institutions that include the Venice Film Festival, Rotterdam IFFR, London BFI, IndieLisboa, Tiradentes, Havana, Aspen, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Yale, Instituto Moreira Salles and the Cinemateca Uruguaia. He created and was one of the writers/directors of three three-season comedy series No Divã do Dr. Kurtzman (2013-2015 Canal Brasil) and has worked as a writer and diretor in different streaming series.
Matheus also works as a script consultant, acting coach and teacher for scriptwriting, directing and acting. He holds a B.A. in Performing Arts | Theatre major from PUC-SP, with emphasis in Stanislavski's system, and was trained in elements from Adler, Meisner and Strasberg (NYC).
His short films include Instruções para chorar (2023), Primeiro Ato (2019), Bruma (2017) and O Afinador (2012). In 2019, at the invitation of the Mostra Internacional de Teatro de São Paulo for a commissioned work, Matheus directed the film-essay Enquanto falávamos sobre performatividades políticas eu ocasionalmente roubava vozes e rostos.
Matheus is an alumni of Torino Film Lab’s advanced script development program Script & Pitch. He is a recipient of the Núcleos Criativos Feature Film Script Development Fund (2016), the Prêmio Estímulo Short Film Production Fund Award (2015), the Brazilian Ministry of Culture’s Exchange Fund (2013), was awarded with the RPT2 Channel Acquisition Award (2012) and received honourable mentions from the SIGNIS Award (2012), the Los Angeles International Latino Film Festival (2013) and the Cine Tamoio (2019). His works also have been nominated for the Youtube Award (2012) and the Golden Firebird Award (2013).
Currently, he post-produces his latest short-film, as he develops a new series and finances his first feature-length. You can occasionally catch him doing stand up comedy as a hobbie either in Berlin or in São Paulo.
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Script breakdown and analysis: beats, motivations and beyond.
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The silence for the screen: character's thinking and introspection.
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Subtext.
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Accurate adjustments to lines delivery between takes.
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Best practices for characters arch when shooting out of order
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Two or three moments from the same character, to craft character’s arch.
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Feedback on filmed exercise scenes.
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Pro tips for shooting with time pressure: quick adjustments for credible delivery of lines; quick physical detailing for naturalism.
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Contemporary scripts are used, and the contemporary naturalist acting now on demand.
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Precise naturalist acting.
This course uses a workshop dynamic and participants witness everything that’s taught to each person, benefiting from everything.
Yet, stage actors transitioning into film and TV will specially benefit from:
Focusing on the practical aspects of being an actor on set.
No use of monologues. We’ll mix practicing climatic scenes and less important, more mundane, scenes too, to practice subtlety (the roles you’ll probably get hired for in the beginning).
A quick access to forgetting the camera and getting comfortable.
Understanding through feedback how small to make delivery lines for naturalism and how much visually is enough for the camera (“doing less”). Exercising the silence in the craftsmanship of the camera actor.
Exercising consistency through multiple takes (in case tech problems with camera or sound happened).
Developing the skill of shooting scenes out of chronological order, via mapping out the arch of the character and exercising how to activate the concentration/set up the emotional place to attack a scene.
Getting used to having people around you on set, while remaining focused, acting for the camera and not for them.
Precision with technical aspects: speaking while doing actions while using the intention Feel confident that you'll be able to handle whats coming at you if you shoot something or go to an audition, practical tools so that you can break down a scene, trace objectives, beats, actions, motivations and so forth.
Learning how to work with anybody but specially with difficult directors or partners.
Directors will specially benefit from these aspects of the course:
Understanding actors and their needs better. Learning concrete tools to communicate with actors and achieve more precise results for the screen.
Learning how to have script reading sessions with actors and listen to their interpretation of the script.
Fomenting imagination, and creating a safe space for people to share ideas (ego control). Removing any friction that doesn't allow the actors to perform and feel comfortable.
Learning when to transition from listening to leading, losing shyness and clearly communicating your vision (the set needs a director with a clear vision).
Understanding prep with actors before shoot. And how to apply what was prepped on set, maximising usage of shooting time.
Better communication skills, analysing with precision and responding. Knowing what kind of language and tone to use, and what to talk about, when communicating adjustments - what immediate results you get when you speak in certain ways.
Managing dialogue delivery, ao that actors own their lines.
Refining and improving the roles.
Creating time for actors when the shooting schedule is tight.
Estimating the ideal rehearsal time per script page, but also making it work when having the ideal time is not possible (so often the case).
Learning how to make prepped and tweaked performances still look raw and spontaneous.
Learning how to improve the chemistry between actors.
Managing to have beautiful quality without too many takes.
For series and TV, learning to work fast and be able to make quick changes in the acting.
Actors with more set experience will specially benefit from:
Learning how to add more colours to lines (avoid line repetition fatigue), learn how to mix it up, exercising in depth the technique of action verbs, which also helps to tweak acting fast between takes.
Having the opportunity to be in the directors side and learn from that.
Working on how to transition from smaller beats to bigger beats smoothly.
Pro tips on how to find the body of a character you’re playing.
Deepening ability to listen to your scene partner (and react).
Better understanding of when the director is under stress. Practicing how to take directions, or criticism, while exercising who how to remaining open and not take it personal.
Practicing routines to feel more comfortable with your craft as an actor, with or without feedback from who’s directing, trusting your director and yourself.
Going from resistance to freedom.
[Matheus Parizi taught two online editions of the course during the pandemic at Instituto de Cinema]
“I was part of the first class taught by Matheus Parizi, which added valuable lessons to my artistic career. I recommend it to all professionals who want to pursue a career in directing or to actors who want to gain new knowledge geared towards the audiovisual industry. Long life!!!”
Leo Moreira Sá (Renato in HBO series Psi)
Trans actor, artivist, screenwriter, lighting designer
